Meeting teens where they are
by Michelle Roberts — November 09, 2011
The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation issued a brief last month called “The Case for Investing in Youth Literacy.” The report found that 93 percent of American teens use the Internet and 75 percent of those who are online look for health-related information. The report also highlighted the fact that teens often struggle to find accurate and reliable health information and to comprehend what they read.
To improve adolescent health literacy, many organizations have created websites or newsletters targeting teens. A few things came to mind as I read the examples cited in the report:
Getting to know your audience is the most important step. It’s important to be specific. For example, target 15-year-old girls or 5th grade students instead of all teens. It also seems that simply disseminating general health information through social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter isn’t enough. The report recommends creating an online portal where young people can find targeted, accurate, reliable and in-depth information first, and then using cool technology tools such as a clinic locator, status updates and blogs to support the message.
I wonder how successful these websites and newsletters are in drawing a large base of teens. Not only does this approach require developing engaging daily content to generate a regular audience, but also finding a way to make teens want to check out this resource in the first place. That is why schools, providers, parents, libraries and other groups seem vital to this effort.
Do you think websites and newsletters are the best approach for reaching teens? What else should we consider when targeting this demographic?